Bold, intelligent, and daring leading actress cum television presenter, Maimuna Yahaya (nee Abaji), shot to national fame some couple of years ago when she thrilled and tantalized millions of Nigerians on television with her role of Emotan, in rested soap, After the Storm. From Idah in Kogi State, pretty and ever-bubbly Maimuna is now happily married to a naval officer. The holy wedlock that was contracted in 2000 is blessed with a baby boy named David. The multi-talented star of Heart Beat, February 14, and many other hit movies and television soaps said, “prior to meeting my husband, I never liked and even vowed never to marry a uniformed man, especially those in the Armed Forces.”
In this revealing interview, the theatre arts graduate of University of Jos took us down memory lane on several issues. She also spoke about her wave-making family and marriage-oriented programme on television, called Bond. On Nigerian men, she further said: “They even chased me with a nine months pregnancy… despite being married; they still disturb me a lot”
You have a new programme on television called Bond. What is it all about?
Bond is a programme that talks extensively about challenges within the family unit. We also talk about issues that bother individuals in their homes, so that people who are about getting married or those who are in marriage already can learn a lesson or two from it. We have come to realize that a lot of marriages have problems. As a married woman, I also have my own little problems; we also look at ways of forging ahead in order to solve our marital problems so that divorce cases can be avoided. It does not help when you are married and later divorced, with children to show for the collapsed marriage. It makes the children vulnerable to a lot of ills in the society. We are contributing in our own little ways towards making better marriages.
When did Bond debut on air?
Funny enough, Bond is almost two years now. It debuted on June 14, 2003, on NTA 2,channel 5, Lagos. Currently we are on stations like KSTV, RSTV and PRTV. We are also working on how to take the programme to SilverBird TV. I’m also trying to take the programme to my state, that is Kogi TV, so that my people can see for themselves the good work their daughter is doing. In fact, with Bond, I’m spreading my tentacles.
What inspired Bond?
Emmh! A lot of things really inspired Bond. First as a child growing up, I had a big phobia for marriage. Then, I had the impression that marriage is an imprisonment. Also, as a child, I had no patience to follow a lot of things up. I could start things and with a little pressure I would give it up. I now said that if truly I want to be married and stay permanently in marriage, then I had to work hard knowing all about marriage and how to keep a home. So I started researching into marriages by talking to married couples. It was after all these that I decided to come up with a marriage-oriented programme. Another thing is that a lot of young girls usually think that by getting married, their entire problems would be solved. Marriage is not an end to problems but a stepping-stone into life. So, we must learn how to live the life in a marriage situation.
So, why the name Bond?
Bond, as the name implies is a relationship between man and woman, man and children that was where the name came from. When I was looking for a name then, I had something like nuts and bolts but a pal told me it sounds mechanical. Still Bonding, is the outreach arm of MESBA, which is the name of my production outfit. On still Bonding, we take couples out on vacations and boat cruises.
So, you have abandoned acting for television presentation now?
No! No!! No!!! I’m still into full time acting. Let me also say it here that I’m not a marriage counselor, I only talk to people on marital issues. Even as a spinster, I was also talking to married couples on how to make their marriages work. Mine is natural, it also came with a lot of readings. I’ve read lots of books on marriages and counseling. I also try to practicalise some of these things.
With your experience so far, what would you say is the biggest problem facing marriages in Nigeria today?
Three things I would say. One is infidelity, followed by lack of trust and lastly the bad economy. When there is no money a lot of things go wrong in a family. You can’t be happy in a family when you can’t afford to eat the next meal. So if somebody next-door gives you the next meal when your husband or wife can’t do it and it continues like that. One day you will surely pay the price…also, as human beings, we are insatiable, we keep wanting. The need to have more also leads most marriages into troubles. Even the society itself does not help matters, it allows a man to do and undo. The men feel like they are Lords, they also grew up not knowing how to show emotions. They always feel because they are men, they are always right. The fact also that they are allowed to sleep around and at the end of the day expect their wives at homes to be faithful has led to the collapse of many homes.
Back to the issue of acting; they said you stopped acting because of marriage. How true is this?
Never. I can’t do without acting. It gives me a lot of joy. Remember I started acting from my days as an undergraduate in Unijos in 1991. I started then with a soap opera in Jos. It was called SHADOWS. But my first movie was titled HEARTBEAT; Chico Ejiro shot it in ’95. Sincerely speaking, marriage has nothing to do with my not being frequent in movies those days. I’m lucky to have a husband who encourages me to do whatever he thinks makes me happy. He encourages me to act because he knows I’m usually happy whenever I’m on set. My only problem with acting these days is the problem they put actresses through these days. The inhuman treatments they mete out to us are what I’m not comfortable with. Inhuman treatment, in the sense that they abandon people in scorching sun on the pretext of doing auditions and castings most times, I also see them locking up and keeping artistes outside the gates of their offices for hours under the rain or in the sun. All these put me of.
Have you done some acting jobs recently?
Yes! A lot. I’ve been busy lately working with Wale Adenuga, on his Super Story set. I was on set with them some three months ago on the sets of Binta My Daughter and Dear Mother. The last movie I did came out early this year, it was titled “February 14”, Paul Obazele directed it. More of my jobs will come out this year. I’ve been busy combining acting with TV presentation.
You came to national prominence with your role as Emotan, in rested network soap titled After the Storm. Since then not much has been heard about you in terms of TV soaps. Did you quit?
(Cuts in) I did not quit. NTA could not come to terms with sponsorship for After The Storm then. So, we all went our different ways when it was rested. And afterwards, I started doing other things on television. During this period I did ‘Jaded Options’ for Patrick Doyle on television. Right now, I’m also working on a soap for myself. I intend to start shooting from June, this year. No title yet, but it is going to be a family oriented soap. When I’m set, we would pick all the topics we had treated on BOND before and dramatise them. It would be like every episode, one topic.
Sometimes last year, you planned producing a movie, but till date nothing has been done. Any problem?
No problem at-all. I put the project on hold because of how volatile the industry was throughout last year. I will go back on set for the movie later this year. But I’m starting with the soap first.
At what age did you get marry?
I got married in 2000 at the age of 27. And there is a baby boy named David to show for the marriage. My husband is a Naval officer.
So, what got you attracted to a military man?
(Laughs) My marriage to a naval officer was not by design. I never in my life wanted to have anything to do with a uniformed person, especially those in the Armed Forces. But his kind of person got me attracted, if you see him, you would like him. He is a good-looking young man. I see myself as a too serious person, and whenever he comes around me then, I find reasons to laugh and smile. He was and is still there for me. Do you know that he edits my BOND for me every weekend at home? Though, he is an engineer, but he went the extra mile to learn how to edit programmes because of me. Tell me, ain’t I lucky. (Laughs). He gives me lots of support: I wonder what I would have done without him.
What really got you tripped about him?
First, his physical being got me tripped. I’ve always told myself I was not going to give birth to ugly children. Because I know one day it would get to a stage where kids would ask their parents to explain to them why they look so ugly in the midst of their pals and colleagues. So, deep down I said to myself that I would marry a tall and good-looking man. He appealed to me a lot. Prior to marrying him, I vowed never to marry from my village, town or state. And he is from my place. Even before meeting him, I never liked dark people for relationships, but he is dark. The so many good things in him outweighed all these things he had which I never liked before meeting him.
As at the time you met your husband, was marriage on your mind?
Not really. Then that I met him marriage was not on my mind. We started talking marriage after being good pals for ninety days.
As a married woman, can you still play romantic roles in movies?
I don’t particularly see anything wrong in playing romantic roles on set. I love kissing in real life, but can’t do it in movies. But if a script that has romantic scenes comes my way, I will definitely give it a trial in a professional way, remember I read theatre arts.
As a child growing up, was theatre arts what you actually dreamt of studying?
No! I had dreamt of reading law as a child then. Maybe, I would go back to the university to study it soon. Also as a child, I dreamt of being famous and wealthy…but my passion for acting made me go read theatre arts. Funny enough, I got into university of Jos, as a law student but changed to theatre arts after a semester.
As somebody from a strict Muslim home, were your parents in support of you going into acting?
Not really! They were just indifferent about the whole thing. My father only warned me about bleaching or changing the colour of my skin later in life. He said lots of the people he sees on television do that a lot.
If tomorrow your hubby tells you to quit acting, would you?
I don’t see him asking me to do that. But if he does, I will quit.
As a married star actress, do men still chase you?
Yes! They chase me knowing full well I’m married. One of these randy men even had the guts to ask me out when I was nine months pregnant and waiting to deliver my son. In fact, this man even had the guts to tell me he would wait for me to deliver so that we can kick off the affair. I’m no longer bothered or surprised, because I have come to terms that men will always be men.
Which satisfies you more between acting and television presenting?
I prefer acting any day, anytime. But the TV presentation brings more money. If I were not into showbiz today I would have been a successful lawyer.
What do you see as the biggest problem facing independent TV presenters in Nigeria today?
Finance and sponsorships are our biggest problems. The TV stations contribute a lot to our problems. They increase airtime rates indiscriminately and even yank-off your programmes randomly without informing you. All these are really frustrating.
Do you do other things aside acting and TV Presentation?
I do a little buying and selling. I’m also a model. My outfit, MESBA, is also into documentaries, TV and film productions. We are also into interior decorations. It was established in ’95.
How old are you?
(Laughs) I’m an adult. I’m 32, was born on February 21.
We would like to know more about your family background?
My parents are both dead and that makes me an orphan. I come from a very large home in Idah LGA of Kogi State. My dad had like five wives before he died. My mum was the first wife, and she had seven of us. I’m the sixth child; my mum had only one boy, the rest are girls. We converted from Islam to Christianity.
So, what are the things you like about being married?
I like the fact that marriage has enhanced my person. I’m grateful to god for giving me the man I married.
Has marriage denied you of anything?
(Thinks) Nothing! The only thing I don’t like about marriage is the anxiety that comes with it. You are constantly worried for another person. Lots of headaches.
What is the greatest lesson you have learnt from being married?
It is patience. I never used to be patient prior to marriage.
What are the things you would like to be remembered for when you quit the stage?
My good works. I want to leave an indelible mark. I want to contribute to people’s lives. I don’t want to die and be forgotten, I want to be remembered and talked about even in death.
If given the chance, what would you want to do for humanity?
A lot! I want to help indigent students with a foundation or scholarship schemes. I also want to help build a better society and help fight the scourge of poverty and diseases.
You got married at 27; do you sometimes regret the fact that you married at that age?
No! I only regret the fact that I’m being made to space my children. I would have loved to have three kids in three years. So, I want three kids but my husband wants two. So, we are yet to reach a compromise on that. Lastly, marriage has been so sweet to me. No regrets at-all.
First published, March 2005.
